News / National
Joshua Nkomo Trust upgrading Muzenda's home
20 May 2016 at 06:30hrs | Views
THE Friends of Joshua Nkomo Trust has started upgrading the late Vice President Simon Muzenda's Mucheke home, known as kwaVaMuzenda in Masvingo, into a heritage site at an estimated cost of $200,000.
The trust's creative director, Rayban Sengwayo, told The Chronicle that the project has started in earnest and is expected to be complete by June, after which it will be commissioned.
"This is done as a follow-up to VP Phelekezela Mphoko's visit to the village, Sikombela in Midlands and Gonakudzingwa in Chiredzi restriction camps last year. He made it clear that heritage sites should be set up," said Sengwayo.
He said by refurbishing the 124-year-old home, the trust seeks to honour the contribution that the late Vice President made to the liberation struggle and relive his legacy.
"We're upgrading the late Vice President Muzenda's home in Mucheke Suburb into a heritage site as we want to preserve our nationalists' legacies at a cost of $200,000. This home was built in 1892 with five huts which we're thatching and painting. We're through with late VP Muzenda hut. We will build a perimeter wall round it," said Sengwayo.
He said all huts would be named after late luminaries who lived in Masvingo with the first one named after the late VP Muzenda.
"The village will show the present generation how the late VP Muzenda lived and headed the war of liberation as he operated from his house. VP Muzenda used to provide freedom fighters like our Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa ammunition meant to destabilise the enemy. He gave him ammunition to bomb a train in the 1960s from the same home," Sengwayo said.
"We're going to name all houses after prominent revolution cadres here in Masvingo. We're going to name one hut after the late Nolan Makombe, the other one after Benjamin Burombo, another after Mayor Urimbo while the other two will be named after the first blacks who lived there in 1892. We've already started consultations with Masvingo City Council and residents."
He said the museum would have photos that show the late VP Muzenda's political career, his walking stick, all the paraphernalia associated with the icon also known as the Soul of the Nation.
Sengwayo said the refurbishment of the home is also supported by the Muzenda family especially the late VP's wife, Maud Muzenda, Masvingo City Council and Zanu-PF member Joosbi Omar who has provided most of the material.
"We will have VP Muzenda's works that he did in South Africa in the 1940s when he graduated with a diploma in carpentry at Marianhill College in Durban. We will also bring his college mate for the commissioning," he said.
Sengwayo also said there is going to be a coffee shop, traditional market, arts and craft centre and a colossal museum as a promotional tool to community-based tourism.
The Joshua Nkomo National Foundation established a museum for the late Father Zimbabwe, Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo at his house in Bulawayo's Matsheumhlophe suburb.
It has become a major tourist attraction after opening its doors to the public in 2012.
The trust's creative director, Rayban Sengwayo, told The Chronicle that the project has started in earnest and is expected to be complete by June, after which it will be commissioned.
"This is done as a follow-up to VP Phelekezela Mphoko's visit to the village, Sikombela in Midlands and Gonakudzingwa in Chiredzi restriction camps last year. He made it clear that heritage sites should be set up," said Sengwayo.
He said by refurbishing the 124-year-old home, the trust seeks to honour the contribution that the late Vice President made to the liberation struggle and relive his legacy.
"We're upgrading the late Vice President Muzenda's home in Mucheke Suburb into a heritage site as we want to preserve our nationalists' legacies at a cost of $200,000. This home was built in 1892 with five huts which we're thatching and painting. We're through with late VP Muzenda hut. We will build a perimeter wall round it," said Sengwayo.
He said all huts would be named after late luminaries who lived in Masvingo with the first one named after the late VP Muzenda.
"The village will show the present generation how the late VP Muzenda lived and headed the war of liberation as he operated from his house. VP Muzenda used to provide freedom fighters like our Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa ammunition meant to destabilise the enemy. He gave him ammunition to bomb a train in the 1960s from the same home," Sengwayo said.
"We're going to name all houses after prominent revolution cadres here in Masvingo. We're going to name one hut after the late Nolan Makombe, the other one after Benjamin Burombo, another after Mayor Urimbo while the other two will be named after the first blacks who lived there in 1892. We've already started consultations with Masvingo City Council and residents."
He said the museum would have photos that show the late VP Muzenda's political career, his walking stick, all the paraphernalia associated with the icon also known as the Soul of the Nation.
Sengwayo said the refurbishment of the home is also supported by the Muzenda family especially the late VP's wife, Maud Muzenda, Masvingo City Council and Zanu-PF member Joosbi Omar who has provided most of the material.
"We will have VP Muzenda's works that he did in South Africa in the 1940s when he graduated with a diploma in carpentry at Marianhill College in Durban. We will also bring his college mate for the commissioning," he said.
Sengwayo also said there is going to be a coffee shop, traditional market, arts and craft centre and a colossal museum as a promotional tool to community-based tourism.
The Joshua Nkomo National Foundation established a museum for the late Father Zimbabwe, Vice President Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo Nkomo at his house in Bulawayo's Matsheumhlophe suburb.
It has become a major tourist attraction after opening its doors to the public in 2012.
Source - chronicle
